Trigger locks are the typical way of blocking unintentional engagement or initiation of firearm triggers. While trigger locks perform their function well for their intended purpose, they are not a viable option for firearms that are intended to be used. When using firearms, the primary means that operators employ to avoid accidental or negligent discharges is by attention and a conscious or subconscious decision to not touch, engage or initiate a firearm trigger before executing the purposeful action of pulling the trigger. However, whether conscious or not, operators cannot devote all their attention to safety all the time. It has been identified that despite intensive training, even a firearm professional can actuate trigger accidently by having their attention redirected to other priorities.
It is recognized that any adequate rearward pressure of a trigger will precipitate the discharge of a firearm. To date, as firearm triggers have been designed and manufactured, there is no way for the inanimate trigger mechanism to intelligently determine whether or not the rearward force applied to it, resulting in discharge, was applied by; the operator's finger, someone else's finger or by any other intentional or unintentional means.
Currently, the only effective safety and security measures a firearm operator can take are training, familiarity with the firearm, focus, attention, sobriety and general appreciation for the inherent risk involved in operating a firearm.
Unfortunately, regardless of the level of training, focus, and attention, firearm accidents can still happen. By definition, an accident is the perpetration of a result or outcome without premeditation, intent or purposeful action. Even among those with years of experience, thousands of rounds fired in training or otherwise, accidental or negligent discharges of a firearm still pose a clear and present danger.
Most modern-day firearms include an external “safety” designed to impede an operator from accidentally discharging his/her firearm before purposefully meaning to do so. However, an external safety is an “actively engaged” mechanism that must be initiated by the operator to be of any value. When a firearm operator either neglects or chooses not to engage the safety, its benefit becomes null and void. Disengagement of the safety takes time, which in an immediate or anticipated live fire situation can mean the difference between life and death. Thus, in such situations, professional operators of firearms often disengage the safety prior to actively engaging a target.
With the safety disengaged, professional firearm operators are trained to use a backup safety procedure known as the “finger forward” position. Unfortunately the finger forward position cannot always be relied upon, as it does not prevent an operator and/or ambient material (other people, gear, branch, etc.) from accessing the trigger during periods of inattentiveness or by accident.
Therefore, what is needed is a new solution by which use of firearms can be made safer without impediment to the efficiency with which they may be intentionally operated or without making them impractical to use.